Turkey faces difficult choices after last month’s NATO summit due to its troubled relations with the alliance and regional opportunities, Yaşar Yakış, a former Turkish foreign minister said in an op-ed for the Arab News on Sunday, Ahval reports.
“Turkey finds itself alienated by the Euro-Atlantic community, but it is at the forefront of a new Middle East in the making. It is definitely tempted to play a role in this process,” Yakış said.
Turkey’s relations with NATO have deteriorated over the past five years after its ties with Russia grew closer, the country attacked Kurdish militants in Syria allied with the United States against Islamic State (ISIS) and became embroiled in regional disputes with Greece and Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. Turkey’s acquisition of the S-400 air defense system from Russia in 2019 remains a key point of contention.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held several bilateral meetings during the NATO summit in Brussels held on June 14, including with U.S. President Joe Biden to discuss tensions in ties. Erdoğan described the meeting with Biden as a “very useful and sincere” encounter and that he felt his American counterpart wanted a “productive partnership” with Turkey.
Turkey may also find itself in opposition with Russia if tensions grow in the Black Sea due to the Ukrainian and Crimean crises, Yakış said.
The South Caucasus is also not yet stabilized, with Turkey keen to get more closely involved in the process of normalization of Azeri-Armenian relations, “but Russia prefers to remain as the exclusive game-maker” Yakış said.
Turkey will get dragged more deeply into the Afghanistan crisis after it agreed in principle to maintain security at Kabul airport, Yakış said.
Furthermore, Turkey will not be able to disengage from the conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Libya, he said.
“Could Ankara steal a role in this turmoil? It would be easier if it were the Turkey of 15 or so years ago, but now it is more difficult.”
